HUNTERS LOBBY LEGISLATURE WITH INITIATIVE IN BACK POCKET
Idaho Lawmakers Focus on Elk Farms
By Bill Schneider, 1-09-07
In the wake of the Great Elk Escape in far eastern Idaho down by Yellowstone National Park, the Idaho legislature has made the issue of game farming a priority. Several bills have already been proposed, ranging from banning "shooter bull" operations, phasing out elk ranching, prohibiting the importation of all cervids into the state, and transfer of regulatory authority from Agriculture to Fish and Game.
Meanwhile, Idaho hunters plan to stay with their current strategy of working closely with the legislature to get a good bill passed. But with hot-button issues like private property rights and agency turf in play, achieving meaningful reform might be a challenge. If lawmakers can’t give hunters an acceptable bill, they plan a ballot measure to protect Idaho's wildlife, elk hunting, and the huge economic benefits they provide to the Gem State.
“We would rather see the legislative process work,” Mark Bell, President of the Idaho Sportsman’s Caucus Advisory Council (ISCAC), said in a phone interview. “If it fails, then we’ll go forward with an initiative.”
Bell also said his group has hired a designated spokesman, Matt Compton, to lobby for them in the legislature. Game farming is going to be “a big issue” in the legislature this year, Bell predicted. “It’s being driven by the lack of regulation and lack of enforcement authority by the Dept. of Agriculture.”
Representative Rich Wills of (R-Glenns Ferry) will take a leading role in the game farming issue, according to Bell. Wills has already had one meeting among the main stakeholders and plans another one on January 30.
Senator David Langhorst (D-Boise) will also be a leader on game farm legislation, according to Compton, who calls him “the right guy for the job” because of his background in hunting and angling issues. Langhorst will be introducing a package of seven or eight bills.
Bell said media attention generated by the escape from the Nez Perce Ranch run by Rex Rammell brought game farming and canned hunt issues to the frontline, but he wanted to dispel the myth that such escapes are rare. According to his research, Idaho has had 248 escapes from elk farms in the past ten years, roughly 25 per year, most of which have gotten little media attention.
To flex its muscles, ISCAD is promoting Camo Day on January 16 at the Capital Building to show legislators the depth of support for hunting and fishing issues. Jim Posewitz, retired from the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and now president of Orion: The Hunter’s Institute (which has the most apropos URL, www.huntrgiht.org) will speak at the gathering. Posewitz was a leader in passing a ballot initiative to phase out game farms and prohibit canned hunts in Montana. For more information on Camo Day, check out the ISCAC website.
Compton explained that the ISCAC is not backing any specific bill at this time but will support legislation that matches the group’s positions. Prime among those positions are the prohibition of shooter bull operations and the dismantling or phasing out of game ranching operations to prevent the spread of chronic wasting disease.
Even though 30 legislators are members of the Idaho Sportsman’s Caucus, Compton suffers no illusions about any easy victory. In Montana, the legislature failed several times to pass game farm reform before hunters took the issue directly to the voters.
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Comments
http://www3.state.id.us/oasis/2006/SJR106.html
http://www3.state.id.us/oasis/2004/HJR011.html
The bill which began the process of putting wolf management back in the hands of Idahoans was HB 294 follow the link below. You'll see that Rep. Stephenson and Rep. Langhorst were the floor sponsors.
http://www3.state.id.us/oasis/2003/H0294.html
For anyone who is willing to look me in the eye and present their views or questions, or at least possessing the courage to identify themselves with a name and phone number, I am always available to discuss issues.
My email address is: and my statehouse phone number is: 208-332-1352
And for anyone who prefers to hide behind anonymity and throw rocks, maybe you could check your facts first?
Sen. David Langhorst
I realize that as an elk farmer you disagree with my view on shooter bull, canned hunting operations. I also realize that since you quote G. Dovel verbatim I probably won't convince you about what happened on the Senate floor regarding Right to Hunt, or what my positions are.
You seem to be saying that the issue is me; I say the issue is canned hunts. Hopefully, people will listen to both sides, and they can make up their own minds objectively. Again, I just request that you do some fact checking before representing my voting record or positions. If you have any questions about my positions, just ask.
Respectfully,
Sen. David Langhorst
I have talked with more than a few game farmers. Most seem to be reasonable people with a viewpoint different than mine, but able to make their arguments in a logical, civil way. They realize that this is a valid policy debate, and that its bigger than me, you, or even perhaps the legislature. (If you think that I should not try to find some solution in our legislative process, you may be far more disappointed with an initiative.)
Obviously, this is a touchy issue on both sides and most legislators I know suggest to everyone involved that if you want to be credible on any issue, stick to the issue, stick to facts that you can back up, avoid (too much) emotion and don't make it personal. Mrs. Miller, I will always defend your right to disagree. How you disagree is entirely up to you.
As for CWD- there has never been a case of it on any domestic elk farm in Idaho, nor has there been TB or brucellosis, though brucellosis has been found in wild elk herds in Idaho. MT and WY have these diseases and need to be held accountable for it.
I like to use information I have already 'backed up' through research, and it is important for people to understand the motive and true identity of those creating these attacks on elk farms and understand that what they are relying on is emotion and not fact.
The 'Sportsmen's' caucus website has many false 'facts' including false statements regarding Idaho law, so I'm not the one who needs to be told to base things on fact. I am angry, yes, because the facts of this aren't being put out there, and I am angry about a group claiming to represent sportsmen, as I am one, taking support from anti-hunting groups. This is public record.
As for your record, well sir, you are a politician- so politics motivate you and your causes. Politics do not motivate my cause, but rather urged me to develop that cause: to get the truth about my industry to the public. A 'solution' cannot be reached, legislatively or otherwise, unless there are appropriate actions and the 'solution' persued is realistic and pertains only to fact. For me, the inappropriate actions were Rammell's defiance, which doesn't represent the whole industry, and the 'caucus' using misinformation to gain support of their cause.
I can tell by your comments that you prefer that the game farming issue be decided on facts, but the recent talk about the efforts to ban elk ranching and canned hunts being fueled by anti-hunting or animal rights groups is far from factual. Quite to the contrary, concerned hunters are fueling this effort.
I followed the long battle to ban canned hunts and phase out game farming in Montana, and the anti-hunting/animal rights concern was never an issue. The effort was completely funded and fueled by hunters such as members of the Montana Wildlife Federation. In your state, the Idaho Sportsman's Caucus Advisory Council has taken a position in support of a prohibition of canned hunts or shooter bull operations and supports a ban on game farming. This is not an animal rights or anti-hunting group, nor would these folks have anything to do with the issue if it had any chance of endangering hunting or second amendment rights.
One more fact. Defenders of Wildlife is not an anti-hunting group, nor is it a pro-hunting group, but it is pro-wildlife and pro-wolf. Certainly some members are against hunting, but long ago the group's leadership decided to stay neutral on the issue of hunting.
Bill
By the way, so-called hunters who would sponsor a citizen initiative to end elk ranching are no better than animal-rights activists because they too are sealing the fate of hunting by doing so.
If they delete the site which they probably will, see a picture of the page at:
http://www.thunderbucks.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1169154031/s-0/
http://network.bestfriends.org/idaho/news/10756.html
I think the rumor is now verified as fact.
You should really verify the information you receive from these so called "sportsmen groups". They can deny their involvement all they want, but the facts are facts, and now there is PROOF that they are all in bed with one another. Funny how the Caucus pretends that they are representing the 10's of thousands of sportsmen in Idaho however only less than 200 of them showed up for CAMO DAY, the majority of which were board members.
This so called Caucus doesn't represent REAL LIVE sportsmen, their mighty leaders are all environmentalists who have a socialist view of hunting, ranching, land use, etc. They claim to be pro-hunting and "for the sportsmen", yet they are teaming up with the HSUS, the country's largest anti-hunting group. HMMM...
And now we have proof, I wonder how they will deny this relationship now. Each and every day, more and more Idahoans will learn who this caucus really is. These groups may have been successful in other states, but they are not going to win here in Idaho. None of their claims have ever been backed up with true scientific facts, thus in my eyes, they are truly inaffective.
People want the truth, not politically motivated environmentalist agendas.
It is also not surprising that the Elk Breeders are using this found information in an attempt to discredit the sportsmen of Idaho. It is also not surprising that HSUS deliberately made an attempt to create a divide between the unified sporting groups. Both are tactics straight from the handbook used in other states who have or currently are facing these issues in their Legislature. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and this effort to distract sportsmen and women from the real issues of ethical hunting practices in our state are a chief example of such.
Remember, all information found on websites does not equate to truth or reality. HSUS has a notorious reputation for attacking hunters and anglers and trying to drive a wedge between unified coalitions. If we fight amongst ourselves, we are less focused on the real issues. A simple analysis of ISCAC’s membership would indicate how serious our organization is about Idaho’s hunting tradition. A short list of membership includes the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, National Wild Turkey Federation, Trout Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, Idaho Trappers Association and the list goes on.
I challenge those responsible for posting these false allegations of a cooperative and unified effort between ISCAC and HSUS, or any other radical organization, to step forward with documented proof. Again, website materials are not a reliable source of information. Simply check out the website any Elk Ranch operation that claims they provide clients a “real hunting experience” and you will see that even the most dubious and imaginary claims can be suggested as truth.
Ethics in regard to Elk Hunting within a fenced property has always been on the table as a concern of ISCAC. Had you attended the multiple discussion groups between ISCAC, elk breeders, as well as other concerned groups, you would know that we have been vocal about the ethical “fair chase” of game, as well as CWD, Brucellosis, and Tuberculosis. But it seems would like to keep the debate centered on disease because you are aware that every other state where game farms have been banned, ethics and fair chase has been the “nail in the coffin” for elk farms. Montana’s initiative to ban farms was declared a success because the sporting community overwhelmingly objected to the practice of “canned hunts”. The legal battles still underway there indicate the same.
And as a point of clarification, my only affiliation to the Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus is as a liaison to and from the Advisory Council. The members of the Sportsmen’s Caucus do not represent the interests of ISCAC. They are a caucus of Republicans and Democrats that have taken interest in a plethora of sporting and conservation issues. Domestic Elk issues are only one of many issue they are concerned with this legislative session. And to be quite honest, not all of the Legislative members within the Caucus feel that all Elk Farms must be eliminated. Firing shots across their bow only damages your case for the legitimacy of Elk Farms in Idaho. For example, Senator Siddoway (R-Dist 35), an Elk Breeder himself, was present for the Sportsmen’s Caucus meeting today. I am not sure if he has declared himself a member of the Caucus, but he has certainly taken an active roll in the discussion of the many sporting issues for the state. ISCAC does not attempt to bar any Legislator for the House or Senate from caucus membership, nor do we have the power to do so if we wished. The Sportsmen’s Caucus is open to any group or organization who wishes to provide input on sporting issues. The Caucus, under no circumstances, is under obligation to vote as a block in the interest of ISCAC. Their primary responsibility is to their constituencies.
At least ISCAC is now letting us know what the real issue is on the elk debate. It's about ethics. I can assure you that even with your help as a lobbyist ISCAC will not be successful.
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